Wednesday, July 18, 2012

B12 or Be Forgetful


According to an AARP article, new study links vitamin B12 deficiency to brain shrinkage and memory problems in older adults.

Brain shrinkage? That can’t be good. I need all the brainpower I can get.

Christine C. Tangney, PhD, associate professor in the department of clinical nutrition at Rush University Medical Center, was the lead author of the study. .According to the AARP, the study “…found those who had the markers linked to vitamin B12 deficiency were more likely to have the smallest brains and the lowest scores on tests measuring short-term memory, concentration and other thinking processes.”

Foods rich in B-12 include fish, meat, especially liver, milk, eggs and poultry are usual sources of vitamin B12.

Yes, you read that right: liver and onions. I guess my Mom was right when she made us eat liver and onions as kids.






Here’s a link to the Rush University Medical Center press release: http://www.rush.edu/webapps/MEDREL/servlet/NewsRelease?id=1531


And, as an added bonus, should you be inspired by this mouth-watering picture, here’s a link to Emeril Lagasse recipe for Calf's Liver with Bacon, Caramelized Onions and Sherry (shown above): http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/calfs-liver-with-bacon-caramelized-onions-and-sherry-recipe/index.html  

PS – No, I didn’t think about the Beetlejuice movie scene in which his head gets shrunk.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

John
I like your sense of humour but seriously, get your B12 levels checked. My dad and brother both had benign brain tumours. Sadly my brother died of his because it was in inoperable place.. One thing we have in our family is pernicious anaemia (b12 deficiency). If your levels are below 500ug you need to be talking to your doc about high dose sups. This knowledge was too late for my brother although cant defintely he had PA but Dad did and it is highly hereditable. See charity web site B12d.org in the UK. The Refence range for B12 has been set too low and is currently under review here in the UK
Good luck with your recovery, if you do need B12 it will help a lot with all sorts of problems. Keep smiling